defendant
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the person in a court case who is accused of doing something wrong or illegal.
the individual, company, or institution sued or accused in a court of law. In criminal cases, this is the person charged with an offence; in civil cases, it is the party responding to a complaint.
Simple“The defendant stood up when the judge entered the courtroom.”
In context“The defendant maintained his innocence throughout the trial, despite the mounting evidence presented by the prosecution.”
UsageIn criminal law, the term is used for the person charged; in civil law, it refers to the person being sued.
Teacher's tipLearners should distinguish this from 'plaintiff' (the person who starts the case) and 'suspect' (the person the police think did it before the trial starts).
SynonymsAntonyms
“The first defendant to be called in admitted that he had travelled abroad with his partner and daughter for 10 days at the start of the summer term.”
“Though these efforts began with attempts to ensure rights for criminal defendants, they were not limited to that context.”
From Middle English defendaunt (“defending; defending in a suit”), borrowed from Old French defendant, present participle of defendre, from Latin dēfendere.
From Middle English defendaunt (“defendant in a suit; defender”), borrowed from Old French defendant, nominalisation of defendant; see above.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.